SPANISH PROPERTY BUYING PROGRAMMES ON TV

[daisylou]

I agree with Julie....it's the brit agents who are the worst, they would quite happily sell you a shed but tell you that it could be a six bedroom villa with pool and tennis court 'no problem'

[katy]

Those TV programmes use the same script every year and the buyers even say the same things. Most used are "lovely place to have your glass of wine/gin and tonic" said looking at the view and ignoring the wide crack running down the structure. From Amanda or whoever "would you consider doing that?" referring to a massive refurbishment as if it were a few days painting. Another well-used phrase was "now the agent tells me that you can rent this house for x amount for at least 20 weeks".

They once showed a villa in Mijas Costa which appeared a bargain. What the TV did not show was that it was completely overlooked by a 4 storey apartment block!

[BENIDORM]

I suppose to be fair , there are some genuine agents operating in Spain,originating from all countries, and I've had bad experiences with Spanish as well as other nationalities, so I think 'Caveat Emptor'...buyer beware....is the best approach when dealing with anyone selling property.

There are so many internet based property agencies now that it is difficult to know who's who...What I find very irritating is the different prices for the same property offered on these sites, the seller obviously knows how much they want, but the agents commission differs dramatically.

I think that many people who go into property selling in Spain are only doing it because it is the only work that they can find here..The big problem is that they are usually untrained and can unwittingly give advice which is incorrect,...could be a costly mistake ..for you the buyer...

If you are considering buying in Spain, I wouldn't like to think that you would be 'put off' by reading all of the horror stories, and by reading all the excellent topics on this forum, I hope that you will be prepared for all eventualities.

[daisylou]

We bought from the local village agent who was english...he is still in our village and is in the process of opening 2 more shops. We were talking to someone recently who's house is for sale and our local agent is charging the least commission out of the dozen or so agents that are advertising the house!!

[katy]

I wouldn't put a property for sale with any agent without a written agreement which inlcuded the commission fee.

[Grouser]

Benidorm, I think the reason you get a great variety of prices on the same property is that it will have a string of agents. We viewed a house directly through the owner. We saw the same house advertised by a variety of agents. The further away they were from the property the more the price went up. I assume that one agent was lifting the property from another, so that a poor unfortunate who picked up on it way down the chain would be paying commission to a string of people. The owner's asking price was 35,000 euros. The price we saw it for in an agents about 30k away was 60,000.

[BENIDORM]

Grouser,
Yes I'm sure that you are correct about the chain of agents adding on commission, despite many advertising that the commission rate is the same whoever you buy off....When we bought our present house, for a least 6 months after, we were receiving calls from agents asking to view the property with prospective clients..I found out later that the previous owners had taken on 8 agents, but didn't bother to let them know when it was sold.....
Mind you ,we have had our share of problems with agents and solicitors in UK, we sold a house in Uk last year and the UK solicitors actually lost our deeds...nightmare ! !
We were first involved in buying a house in Spain over 30 years ago, and it seemed so simple then, no problems whatever, and everyone was so helpful......Whats happened ?

[sunkissed]

I've learned that giving general advice on matters like these is a waste of time. People have already made their mind up they want to move and are looking for validation. Jump at the positive and downplay the negative. "we're only here once", "if we don't do it now we never will", "if we don't do it we will always look back and wonder what if" etc etc etc
It's like when you decide to buy that car you like, once you've sold it to yourself it's as good as bought.

You can give specific pointers such as what to look out for but telling a young family they will commit financial suicide by giving up their 30k+ salaries in the UK won't have any influence

[Lavanda]

Just had a fantastic dinner and shared a bottle of wine so I'm feeling expansive ... Yes! Hell! We're only here once and while there's so much to worry about and so many 'ifs' and 'buts' to consider perhaps the answer sometimes is to 'just do it'. In my experience that's usually the right thing - for me - and what do I care about what anyone else thinks??? A bit - but not that much. I've NEVER regretted buying my house in Coin and only had pleasure from it. Lucky me.

[nevada smith]

i'll stick my neck out here -
upon completion of an overseas, tax-free contract in 1970
i back-packed from sevilla to huelva then the coast to barcelona...
i came in search of michener’s semana santa,
hemingway’s pamplona and
ended up ‘investing’ in 67 hectars of land in andalucia -
(despite degrees in architecture & philosophy
i got my start cleaning out horse stables and
teaching bosal riding for board & room -
but then, it was 1975 and i was 32 and single... )
the rest is history, maybe a book, but currently merely dialog
with friends over wine laced dinners on the terrace...

[katy]

Thats an interesting taster, did it turn out good or a disaster I did a year at sevilla uni and during this time I sort of "lost" a fair amount of money and came within a hairs breath of losing more. Been sensible ever since

[BENIDORM]

i'll stick my neck out here-......?

Another 'cliff-hanger'...from Nevada smith..........

[Lavanda]

... and am I right in thinking that you ddn't spend the next thirty years worrying about house prices???

[nevada smith]

katy
“...did it turn out good or...”
we’re still here
“sharing conversation with friends over wine laced dinners on the terrace”
looking out over the same land...

beni
“another cliff-hanger” ?
didn’t mean to leave you hanging beni -
just another story about another person who went another way...

gisela,
“...and am i right in thinking that you didn’t spend the next thirty years
worrying about house prices???”
yes - i haven’t spent thirty years worrying about much of anything...

[RichardCoeurdeLion]

Nevada

What is "Bosal riding"

[nevada smith]

very simply
a bosal is a bridle without a bit -
if you're interested in learning something
google "bosal riding"...
i learned bosal riding on the king ranch in texas
1956-1959...

[Julie]

I haven't heard the term bosal before, in England it is classed as a hackermore bridal, exactly the same principal, normally used in UK for horses that don't or wont take the bit, it can be very severe in the wrong hands.

[Retro P]

Nice recant of your past thirty years Nevada, however, shouldn't that last line read "saturated dinners"

[nevada smith]

i question 'recant', so
i'd probably question 'saturated' too...

[gavilan]

reading this (and similar threads) am struck by how romantic we all are ... we have dreams ... we are inspired by literature ... and beautiful places ... I had not realised how powerful romance is!